


Good Mornin'

by sansasnarks



Category: Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-23 22:13:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20015605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansasnarks/pseuds/sansasnarks
Summary: A progression of Don, Kathy, & Cosmo's relationship in three different mornings.





	Good Mornin'

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this! I loved this movie and how there was definitely poly subtext, and Good Morning in particular got me with them singing about how they didn't want to say good night to each other (and I had poly-lens on and noticed that they had a good amount of threes in terms of furniture for a house that seems to belong to Don and only Don) so of course there could only be one theme for this fic. <3

**Kathy**

The test screening had been a disaster, but Kathy tried to keep a smile on her face as she bustled around Don and Cosmo's home. Well, she _thought_ it was Cosmo's as well. He had mentioned something about an apartment when they had first met and none of the papers ever mentioned Don living with his best pal, but whenever she would visit Don, Cosmo was there at the piano or lounging on the couch and Kathy realized early on that another apartment or not, she thought of this as Don and Cosmo's home, not just Don's. 

A home that Don was currently sulking in. Cosmo was trying to cheer him up, singing a song and dancing circles around him - something that would have made Don roar with laughter, but now he sat sullenly, giving a small smile to Cosmo until Cosmo sighed and plopped onto a chair next to Don. 

"I'm sorry, Cosmo," Don said. "I just cannot be entertained right now." 

"Well," Kathy said, getting up. "If you're going to sulk, you can do that. I spied some pastries in the kitchen and I made some tea earlier - what a bad host you are Don, don't you know the guest shouldn't get their own food?" she teased, but Don barely responded. 

"What guest?" Cosmo laughed. "I don't see a guest, you may as well live here now!" 

Kathy smiled at Cosmo and turned to the kitchen, but she wondered at his words. She had been here an awful lot, sometimes Don would leave for a bit and she'd still stay, sipping iced teas and singing along to a tune Cosmo was playing. Kathy didn't know if that was odd of her - she had been with a few fellas before Don, but she had certainly never stayed at their homes with their maybe-not housemate while they were gone. But she didn't think they minded. Don mentioned once that he thought their furniture was meant for three people, and Kathy had agreed. She had noticed that everything had been in a set of three after that - they had three nice mixing bowls, three different sets of fancy cups, three barstools and one day she looked up and realized there were even three ships on the mantle, so she likes to figure that she and Don are right and this is the perfect amount of people in a house. 

She puts the teapot onto a platter with three cups and adds sugar cubes to the side. She likes putting in globs of sugar cubes and she's noticed others have as well, but she doesn't know their tea preferences yet so she figures she should be cautious in _something_ for once and leave it up to them. When she walks out of the kitchen, she stops and looks at the scene before her. Cosmo has leaned over to Don, and their hands are clasped together, Cosmo's finger gently rubbing Don's knuckles. Don looks up and sees her and before she can even blink he's cleared his throat and the two break away from each other. The two looked guilty - a foolish thing, really, but she saw a sort of sad undercurrent to Cosmo's guilt that tugged at something deep in her heart. 

"Well don't stop on account of me," she scoffs, walking over and placing the tea on the table. She looks over at them and is glad to see that Cosmo's sadness is fading away, instead replaced with surprise and wonder. "Although I suppose you can't drink the tea like that, hm?" She slides the tea over. "Well, go on, I won't be serving you both, there's sugar there if you want it," she quips, and sits back down next to Don. 

The two men look at each other and back at her, but Kathy paid them no mind. She put five cubes of sugar into her tea, and Cosmo gave a small laugh. 

"Why Kathy," Cosmo said, grabbing his own tea. "You put that much sugar in your tea?" 

"Of course!" she says. "Ever since I started making my own." 

"Well if you keep it up, your veins are gonna be nothing but sugar!" Cosmo exclaims. The two men laughed and clinked their glasses while Kathy glared, but she frowned when she saw them wincing after their first sip. 

"Is everything all right?" she asked, and Cosmo stopped twisting up his face to give her a smile. "Of course!" he said, and she could _swear_ she could hear a vague thud from under the table but Don jumped and smiled as well. 

"We're just so broken up about that film screening," Don said quickly. "Also, I think I _will_ need some of that sugar." 

It was later that they realized it was morning, when they had laughed and sang and danced the night away, and come up with the idea: to make the movie into a musical. Kathy had to admit she wasn't too keen on Lina taking credit for her work, but it would be the one time, and she would have credit, and Cosmo and Don had lit up at the idea. She had given Don a big kiss, and saw Cosmo make a show of being excluded but the look in his eyes was creeping up again and Kathy moved before she could even realize it. 

Kathy had always been a risk-taker. She had to be, to follow her dreams and not go into secretary work like her mother had wanted, she had always had to take a leap of faith and believe in her instincts, but as she kissed her fella's best friend on the lips she wondered if maybe this one time she should have been a bit more cautious. But then Cosmo gave a little joking bashful fall, and when she and Don rushed over, Cosmo was laughing up at them. They all laughed, and one thing led to another and the next thing she knew they were on a flipped over couch, Don next to her and her head on Cosmo's shoulder, and they laughed and laughed and laughed - at what, she couldn't remember, but she never wanted to stop. 

Eventually, though, Cosmo jumped up and said he was already thinking of a song for the movie, and Kathy got up to say that she should get home. She didn't want to - she wanted to hear Cosmo's song, and dance and talk with them some more, hear some more stories of their childhood (oh to hear them _both_ talk about it instead of one-sided papers, to hear Don obviously exaggerate while Cosmo would make faces and gestures in the back whenever he got something wrong was such a _delight_ ), but Kathy had been forward enough for one day and she didn't want to push it. 

It was perhaps 3 AM when she got home. She hadn't wanted to say goodnight, but she suspected there would be more moments like these ahead, and as Kathy closed the door to her flat, she smiled. 

It had been a good morning. 

* * *

**Cosmo**

It's been weeks of parties and shmoozing up to the big-wigs at the company, and Kathy and Cosmo were tired.

Don had gone off to another soiree - well, not so much as it was at 10 AM which was neither the time for parties or shmoozing, but Don was trying to get the lead in some big picture that was meant to be in the works and Kathy and Cosmo knew he'd get it but they just couldn't go with him, really. 

_Kathy looked Don straight in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I can't. I'm sick."_

_"Me too," Cosmo said from the couch._

_Don looked between the two of them. "You're sick?" he asked slowly._

_"Achoo," Cosmo said flatly, and Kathy gave a short laugh, but with a quick look from Don she turned them into vaguely-convincing coughs._

_"Phenomenal," Don muttered. "Quite possibly the most important role of my life and the two of ya won't even show up! Traitors, the both of you."_

_"Oh don't worry," Kathy said. "We have complete faith in you."_

_"Complete and total," Cosmo echoed from the couch. "But we are pooped out. Go, have fun, get the biggest role of your life," he says, enunciating the last part of the sentence with a flourish of his hand._

_Don looked like he was about to argue, but Kathy gave him a kiss and practically pushed him out the door. "Oh go on," she said. "The two of us will be here when you get back, but like we said, we're sick!" and before he could say anything, she shut the door in his face and sat down next to Cosmo._

_"You know, I am sick," Cosmo said. "Sick of all these parties. Tell ya what, I never thought I'd be tired of them but every man needs to have his limit." He paused and looked at Kathy. "Although I also do have a bit of a headache from yesterday's shindig."_

_"Oh, I have the perfect remedy!" Kathy said. "Tea, we have a special type in our family with nutmeg and ginger. I can never get the amount of ginger right but I'll find whatever much we have and it should all work out!"_

_"No you don't have to-" Cosmo said, but Kathy was already up, and Cosmo sighed. Maybe he **should** have gone to the party. _

She had returned with the tea and they had sat in silence for a while, Kathy looking over at Cosmo every now and then, and Cosmo put down the paper he was reading. "I'm sorry Kathy, I _will_ drink the tea soon," he said. 

"No, not that," Kathy said, her hands twisting together, and Cosmo frowned, realizing that she seemed nervous. "I wanted to talk about you. And Don." 

Cosmo nodded, already knowing what was going to happen. He was going to have a conversation on how his and Don's relationship was too queer for her and that maybe he shouldn't hang around so much anymore. They would get dangerously close to that conversation sometimes, like when they were sitting in a closed booth with Don's arm flung around Kathy and Cosmo next to him holding his hand under the table so only Kathy could see. She had opened her mouth and Cosmo could sense The Conversation happening so he had unclasped his hand and signaled for a waiter, and it had been avoided as it had been so many times before. He shouldn't have kept avoiding it, he knew, but Kathy would always be fine with the hand holding and the closeness, and he thought more but he didn't want to bring it up because if he _did_ and she _didn't_ it would be the end of whatever fragile thing they had built together. He had hoped it wouldn't happen, had thought that maybe she - well, it didn't matter so much anymore, now did it? 

"Well what about us?" he said cheerily, bringing himself back to her question. 

"Are you and Don - well, have you," Kathy started, and then she took a deep breath and seemed to steel herself. "Are you two together?" 

"Well right now? No, of course not!" Cosmo said, the smile never leaving. "Do you see him in the room?" 

Kathy sighed and fixed him with a look. "Cosmo, this isn't me fooling with you."

"You must be!" Cosmo said. "We're best pals, best mates, don't ya see that, it's clear to everyone Kathy, I can't -" 

Kathy reached over and grabbed Cosmo's hands in hers, stopping him in his tracks. "Cos, no joking," she said, and Cosmo's smile dropped at the serious look in her eyes. "You know that's not my meaning. I don't mean to judge, you know I don't. I just want to know, and I wanted to know where I fit in with you two." 

Cosmo looked down at their intertwined hands, and then back up at her eyes, eyes that were way too observant and ever so earnest. 

"I don't know what you would call us," he said softly. "We've never really talked about it really, but we are what we are."

It felt good to say it, he realized. It was the scariest damn thing he'd ever done but it was in front of someone he loved, who wasn't judging him or Don or threatening their safety and he feels guilty for ever thinking that Kathy would have ever done that and even guiltier that though he knows she's being genuine that the fear hasn't completely left him. 

"When did you both know?" Kathy said, squeezing his hand in encouragement.

"It happened when we were 15," he answered, and he remembered the day so vividly. He had always known that he had loved Don, but one day they had been drinking and Don had looked around before leaning in and so had Cosmo, and the kiss they had shared had been sloppy and quick before Don had pulled away but Cosmo had smiled and slung his arm around Don and Don had stiffened for a moment before leaning into him again.

There would be moments here and there over the years - Don would drink and come to him, until one day Cosmo made a halfhearted joke that Don only wanted him when he was drunk and the next time Don came there wasn't a lick of alcohol in him and Cosmo almost burst because Don, that fool, was horrible with words but could say everything silently and Cosmo knew then he had fallen hard for him. 

"So you've been together all this time?" Kathy asks, her voice thoughtful and - what Cosmo thought sounded almost like awe. 

"We hadn't become - we weren't anything," he continued. "But we spent our nights together, and the only times we had been apart was when Don would find a nice gal in a town and go around with her for a while. Unless it was one of those publicity relationships, like Lina, see, but if it was real we would stop then, it never felt right to keep at this if he could find a gal."

Cosmo didn't add on the fact that he didn't _want_ to, most times. It had always gutted him, being pushed to the side whenever there was a reporter who cared more about Don and his gal of the month, and Cosmo liked some of the girls well enough, but never enough to want to introduce whatever he and Don were. He couldn't broach the subject, he and Don had just _done_ it, and Cosmo would go around and meet some men and women (mostly men, but he'd be lying if he said there hadn't been a girl or two who'd borrowed his heart for a day) and one day the lady would be gone and Cosmo and Don were back to being them.

"So now that I'm here," Kathy starts, and he can see her trying to find the words that she wanted. "I think you two are wonderful together," she says, and Cosmo realized then where her nerves were coming from. It wasn't about _them_ , or him, but of _her._ "But I wonder where I fit in. You two fall into place with each other, Cosmo, and I don't. What if I don't fit with you two? With _you?"_

Cosmo wondered if he looked as confused as he felt listening to her.

_The day Kathy had come into their lives (Don's, really, Cosmo had met her weeks later but the day Don and Kathy met set them all down this path, Cosmo thought) Cosmo had asked Don, "What do I got?" The answer had come on instinct, a cheeky, "I gotta get outta here!" but then Don had stopped him in the hall, looking around before pulling him close and saying, "You got me," and Cosmo didn't have a thing to say to that and then they heard a sound and separated, the moment still hanging over them._

_When Don had come back home talking about this new gal he had met, who had insulted them on their very first meeting, Cosmo knew he liked her._

_When she had slammed the cake into Lina's face, Cosmo knew they had to find her, and if Don wasn't already scouring the city to find her, Cosmo would have done it himself._

It hadn't been until Kathy that they had kept going for once, where they could be Don and Cosmo and Kathy and one didn't seem more important than the other. Cosmo had known from the first day she had stayed over, with her smiles and her god-awful bitter tea that she was a keeper, she was amazing, she was Kathy. Kathy with her quick wit and occasional putting Don and his ego in place, Kathy with her kind eyes, Kathy with her kisses to both of them, Kathy who saw them hold hands and would say nothing but smile, a smile that reached her eyes, Kathy who would pull Cosmo close to hug her and Don in public when he'd be off to the corner. Don would always have a piece of his heart, but it seemed like Kathy had also taken half and wasn't planning on giving it back any time soon.

"Kathy, you may not have been here since we were boys but you fall into place just fine. And you'd have to be some dumb Dora to not see how much Don loves you, and I know you're smart," Cosmo said. "I knew from the second Don told me that you didn't find him impressive that you were something else. The way you are is..." He paused, trying to think of how to phrase what she meant until he looked down and got it. "You're like - like this couch! Now - let me finish," he said quickly, because Kathy seemed a little bit affronted and he realized he had just called her a piece of furniture. "Everything in this house is from our past, they're old and familiar and we love it. But this couch is new. We bought it this year and it took a few months to break it in and get used to but now the couch looks like it's always been here. And I do fancy this couch, Don and I both do, and I think the couch fancies us back, see?" 

Kathy smiled, and Cosmo saw tears swell up in her eyes. "I think this metaphor has gotten away from you," she said. "But I do see." 

They sit there for a while, hands still intertwined, when Cosmo looks at her and smiles, a twinkle in his eye. "There is one thing I want to ask of you," he said, and Kathy looks at him, serious. 

"Yes?" she asked. "Is it - public events, how you live with us, because I think that is fine. Soon enough Don and I may get married and there may be some rumors but it's hard to have much evidence if we're married and under the same roof, we can handle a few rumors and live our lives happily -"

"No, none of that," Cosmo said, although he had to admit, that probably was good to talk about and he did think she was right, but that would have to wait until Don came and they could talk about it together, all three of them. "This is far more serious."

"Oh," Kathy said, her eyes widening. "What is it?" 

Cosmo squeezed Kathy's hand in comfort, and looked deep into her eyes. "From now on, I think _I_ should make the tea." 

* * *

**Don**

_Good morning, good mo-orning_ _, sun beams will soon shine through!_

Don slowly opens his eyes, listening to Kathy singing from the bathroom. She was always the earliest riser of the three, usually rising at 7 or so while Don and Cosmo stayed in bed, until Cosmo finally got up a half-hour later to fix breakfast (he was easily the best cook of the bunch, always complaining that he made food for three people until Kathy sweetly pointed out that she could always help _at least_ make tea and Cosmo stopped complaining) and Don would follow suit at 8. 

Don figured Kathy had just woken up, because Cosmo was still wrapped in his arms and snoring softly (a fact that Don and Kathy learned to never tell him again because the second they had brought it up and laughed at the way he snored they were woken up at 5 the next morning by him making what seemed like horse sounds, and when Kathy nudged him he went, _"Oh sorry, I must have been snoooooooring,")._

He could hear Kathy walking around the bathroom, still singing, her voice echoing around the room. 

_But came the dawn the show goes on and I don't want to say goodnight!_

He was glad that Kathy was staying with them now. She had her own place, as did Cosmo, but they were there so often and when Don noticed that a drawer full of his clothes had been replaced with dresses and jewelry he didn't say a word. It was fine, anyway, they were always respectable in public and the last time someone had asked him if wedding bells were in the future he had said "We'll see, now," and for once had meant it, because he and Cosmo were going to cook up a grand proposal for Kathy and then she could move a whole dresser in, not just a drawer. 

He was grateful to her and Cosmo, that they had seemed to have made this switch so effortlessly. When Don had asked her about if they could keep this hidden, because if it got out it would ruin them, and he didn't enjoy the thought of a fist at his face should he and Cosmo be exposed but the thought of Cosmo getting hurt set a chill down his spine more than the thought of a tabloid writing a piece on Cosmo and Kathy having an affair or incessant questions on why Cosmo lived with them.

Kathy had just held his hand and told him they would have to stick to their story, that Cosmo was just their best friend and there was only so many times that they could be asked the same question before reporters got tired. She asked him if this was what he wanted, and he had a flash of nerves before he said yes, and she had smiled and said that was what she had wanted as well. Cosmo had walked in and cracked a quick, "Well did anyone ask me?" to which Don's response was a kiss on the cheek. Cosmo had softly placed his hand to the cheek before falling to the floor in a flourish, and then getting up to announce, "By the way - that was a yes to your question!" and the three had laughed and Don had held them both, feeling a little less fearful. 

Don couldn't believe he had these two, that they had each other, that he could wake up each morning, Kathy snuggled into him and Cosmo sprawled in some fashion on them both. He almost wanted Kathy to come back to bed so that he could hold them both and stay that way forever, but Cosmo's snores had stopped and he was stirring next to Don. 

"She's singing," Cosmo said, and got up, bounding to the bathroom where his voice blended with Kathy's, the two practically shouting the last lines. 

_Waka laka laka laka laka laka laka wa!_

Don groaned and rolled out of his bed, smiling as he heard the two go into the first verse again. 

"Make some room in there for a fella, would ya?" he yelled in the direction of the bathroom before singing along. 

_Good morning, good morning to you!_


End file.
